"You love me?"
"What"
"You just said, "You loved me. And apparently it is a problem to love me?"
"I said that out loud?"
"Yeah you did."
"Oh."
Steph pulled Ranger's arm indicating she wanted to continue walking. Ranger allowed her to do this knowing that she was trying to get her thoughts in order.
"So who is Matt?"
"huh what? Oh Matt, he owns the Frustration Center. I meet him the other day when I stopped into the Center."
"So nothing is going on between the two of you?"
Thinking back to her first session with Matt she responded "No his girlfriend would not appreciate that very much"
Steph could feel the tension lessen from Ranger's body.
Deciding that it was better to just talk with Ranger than trying to avoid it any longer she started with "Do you remember when Scrog held Julie and me in my apartment. (feeling Ranger tense up again she squeezed his hand as she continued on) Well I was tied to a chair and partially gagged. I couldn't really even make a sound. Scrog said that if I made any noise that he would hurt Julie. I was trying to do what you said about focusing on the objective you know. But when I realized that it was either Joe or possibly you coming through the door I could not even wish for it being one of you more than another. I knew whoever it was would probably die. I had a moment of clarity. I realized that I loved both Joe and you. Until that day I had never told Joe that I loved him. And I will admit that it has taken me a long time to realize that I might love him but I am not in love with him. I really couldn't be if I had all these feelings for you. I want to say that I have gotten to know you since that day. You have been there for me on my good days as well as on almost all of my bad days. You have never told me to quit my job, but instead you have encouraged me. You gave me cars worth more than I could make in years and did not even blink an eye when they were turned to ash. I am not sure when but somewhere over the last few years my feelings for have changed from friends, to friends that love each other, to being in love with you. If I was to be totally honest this is one of the reasons I have tried to keep distance between us. You told me you did not do relationships and here I am in love with you. I don't know what to do with these feelings I have for you. If I allow myself to get too close I risk the chance of getting hurt and if I pull back too far I risk losing what we friendship we have. If all I be is your friend then I wanted to make sure it was still an option."
Ranger stopped walking again and used their conjoined hand to pull Steph up against him. Moving their united hands he positioned them behind her back causing her to trapped against his body. Using his free hand he tilted her chin up, looking in to her eyes and said "Stephanie, Babe I love you too. Even more than that I have been in love with you for a while." With that he leaned down and kissed her like it might be their last kiss. When he finally pulled back he could see the dazed expression in her eyes.
Ranger continued to speak once Steph's eyes cleared. "I was trying to give you space to figure out what and who you wanted. I also still have time on my contract with the government so I really am not in a position to offer my whole self. This is a reason I have been dropping hints but not forcing too much pressure on you to make a choice."
Ranger could feel Steph shivering. They had been at the park for at least an hour walking around and talking. "You cold Babe?"
"yyyyeeeesssss" Steph stuttered out. She did not realize how cold she was till she had stopped talking and walking.
With that Ranger turned them and directed the way to the car. He helped Steph into the car before walking around to the driver's side. Before pulling out of the lot Ranger kicked up the heater than entered into his zone leaving Steph wondering what this all meant. She just poured out her heart and she was not sure where that left them. Looking around Steph noticed that Ranger was pulling into her apartment parking lot. She looked over at him trying to figure out why they were back here instead of at Rangeman since that is where her car was.
Pulling into a parking spot, Ranger came around and helped Steph out of the car and headed into the building. Figuring that just spent over an hour walking in the park he allowed her to led him to the elevator. Outside Steph's door Ranger used his lock picking kit to open the door since Steph's bag was still at the office and than went into action to make sure everything was secure. Not wanting to wait any longer Steph entered her apartment and headed to the kitchen to check on Rex.
Ranger came back through the hall and shook his head when he saw Steph standing in the kitchen talking to the hamster.
"Babe would you be interested in having dinner with me tonight. I can have Ella whip something up and we could watch a movie?"
Steph looked a little hesitant. Finally she said, "sure that would be nice, but I expect dessert!"